Things are not going well for FC St. Pauli in the 2nd division at the moment. After seven games without a win, a relegation battle is announced. City rivals and leaders HSV should feel the frustration in the derby on Friday (6.30 p.m. / Sky). But even before the duel starts on the pitch, there are ugly scenes in front of the Millerntor Stadium.
Before the city derby, police officers apparently used violence against FC St. Pauli fans. A video on Twitter shows officers taking supporters to the ground in the South Stand, fixing their heads with their knees and continuing to beat them.
Around 150 St. Pauli fans dressed in black and masked with red scarves are said to have tried to attack the HSV fan march on Glacischaussee. They are assigned to the “Rotsport St. Pauli” group, which according to the “Hamburger Abendblatt” was already classified as problematic in advance. The police stopped them and took about 20 people into custody. “Immediate coercion” was used, for which there is a narrow legal framework.
FC St. Pauli reacted immediately to the scenes of violence via Twitter and demanded that the events be clarified. “In view of the available videos and eyewitness reports, the urgent question of proportionality arises,” said the derby host. In addition, the club spoke of “several injuries”.
The Hamburg police didn’t wait long for a statement either. The authority tweeted: “Parts of this group were taken into custody. A video circulating on the Internet shows such a detention, in which a police officer uses coercion in the form of physical violence.” The background is not yet clear. According to the police, it will be checked whether proportionality has been observed.
For the Hanseatic city, it is the first city duel in two and a half years without corona restrictions. The Millerntor Stadium is sold out with almost 30,000 fans. FC St. Pauli will use more folders than usual, said a club spokesman. The police had also increased their safety precautions before the risky game. “We are prepared for anything,” said the spokesman. The primary goal is to separate the hostile fan scenes from each other.
Sources: “Hamburger Abendblatt”, “NDR”, with Twitter and DPA material
